


Shapes and Shadows

by WallaceAndGromitGirl



Series: Shapes And Shadows Trilogy [2]
Category: Coraline (2009), Don't Starve (Video Game), Frozen (2013)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Alliances, Character Death, Dark Fantasy, Dark Magic, Fantasy, Fire, Heroine's Journey, Horror, Kidnapping, Mirrors, Multi, Romance, Snow and Ice, Survival, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-21
Updated: 2014-07-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 11:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1345675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WallaceAndGromitGirl/pseuds/WallaceAndGromitGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The darkness chasing the royal sisters isn't done with them yet. When Anna vanishes, Elsa finds herself journeying through a demented wonderland on a quest to save her. Every day is a fight for survival, and she can't kill the monsters outside before she confronts her own lingering demons...and her feelings for the lonely madman with the power to doom them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Return

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh, this one's gonna be fun.
> 
> Before we start, I recommend that you go read Welcome to Mystery, which this work is a follow-up to. If you haven't read it already, it can be found in the Frozen/Coraline crossover section. As for the rest of you, hello again! I'll try to keep this comprehensible, but I make no promises. This is for my entertainment just as much as it is for yours. Enjoy. :)

" _We have eyes, and we have nerveses. We have tails. We have teeth. She will get what she deserveses, when we rise from underneath…"_

* * *

**Nine Years Later**

* * *

The snow came floating down from the north and tumbled over Arendelle in a gentle waterfall of white. No strange magic at work this time, only the first day of December. The children ran out to play as soon as it was light. Their mothers placed wreaths of holly and ivy on each door, and their fathers marched out to the forest in search of the perfect trees and Yule logs. The unnatural chill in the air went unnoticed.

When Anna finally drifted into consciousness, she took one glimpse outside and instantly stumbled out of bed. _I'm not dreaming, right? This one's for real?_

"Ma'am?" Kai asked, opening the bedroom door after a few tentative knocks. "It's ten to - "

"What day is it?" Anna demanded, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"The first of December, ma'am."

" _Yes!"_ She tore off down the hall, not even bothering to put on slippers, with her tangled hair flying behind her. _"Elsa!_ Elsa, where are you? Today's the day! You _promised!"_

"She's preparing for a meeting with the cabinet, Your Highness," a servant said as the princess skidded into the foyer. "I believe I last saw her in the courtyard."

"Oh, okay! Thanks!" Anna answered, pulling the front doors open.

"Ma'am, it's rather cold out there."

"I'll be fine!" Anna dashed outside and back in a moment later, shivering. "...Right. Yeah. Getting dressed."

* * *

When Anna stepped into the courtyard a few minutes later, the snowfall had blanketed the ground. Kristoff was helping several other men pull a large pine tree up between the fountains. Some sang a carol as they worked. The children of the town darted around them, shrieking with joy and lobbing snowballs at one another.

A nearby voice caught her attention. "I think you left the rest of me over there, could you just...chase it the other way, please?" It was Olaf - or rather, his head. The children had placed it on a stick and hung a sprig of holly on his nose, and they were laughing at their handiwork while shooing away the rest of his body. "Does this mean they like me, Anna?"

Smirking, Anna put her hands on her hips and ambled towards the children. "And what are you up to?"

They shrank back at the sight of her, putting the snowballs they'd been about to throw behind their backs. "Playing with the snowman," one of them said. "It doesn't hurt him or anything."

"Right, you have fun with that. Just watch your backs on the 24th."

"...Why?"

Anna's smirk grew. "Haven't your parents told you what happens to naughty children on Christmas Eve? Saint Nicholas sends his friend the Krampus to deal with them."

The children's eyes widened. "Uh…"

"You know, the Krampus? Big scary goat man? He's got a sack just like the one Saint Nicholas carries, only he hasn't got any presents with him. It's for carrying little children. Yep, you heard me right! He just scoops 'em up in their sleep and carries them back to his lair!"

"Why does he do that?" Olaf asked.

"Because naughty children are _extra_ delicious."

The children screamed. Ripping Olaf's head off the stick and flinging it at his body, they ran off shouting for their parents. "Sorry!" Anna called out after them. "Think I laid it on a little too thick…"

"No kidding." Elsa was standing behind her, arms folded and a questioning eyebrow raised. "You could have just told them to leave Olaf alone."

"Oh, they'll figure out that guy isn't real," Anna said as she put the snowman back together. "And if they don't, their parents will have it easy for the rest of the month. Win-win! Anyway, that's not what I came out here for," she added, smiling.

"What did you come out here for, then?"

"You don't remember? We're gonna move your stuff back to my room today!"

"We...oh," Elsa finished as she suddenly remembered. "Yes, of course, I just need to - "

"Kristoff can help us with the furniture, we just gotta move the boxes of the little stuff," Anna said, grabbing her hand and starting to pull her towards the door. "Come on!"

Elsa broke free from her grip. "Anna, I have to meet with the cabinet today. It'll be a while."

Anna stopped. "What do you mean, a while?"

"An hour. Maybe longer."

"Um...okay."

"I'm sorry. I forgot," Elsa added, glancing down. "You don't have to wait for me."

"Of course I will! Take your time."

Kristoff approached them, dusting his hands off. "So, are we ready?"

"Not just yet," Elsa told him. "I'll see you later." Sighing, she swept past her sister and back into the castle. _The sooner you start, the sooner you get it over with._

* * *

"You okay, feisty pants?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Anna stood up from the spot on Elsa's floor where she'd been sitting cross-legged. She rearranged the boxes of her sister's, then sat back down in the midst of them. A moment later, she did it all again.

Kristoff's expression wavered between bemusement and worry. "That's a good start."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Has it been an hour yet?"

"It's been…" he looked at the clock on the wall. "...twenty minutes."

She stiffened, and from the bottom of her throat came a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a growl. As she picked up another box and carried it across the room, a small object wrapped in paper fell out of it and landed on the floor. Had Kristoff said nothing, she would have put it back and not given it another thought. Instead he looked at it and said, "Do you remember boxing that?"

"I…" Anna looked down at it and paused. "I don't think so." Kneeling, she picked it up and unwrapped the paper. In her hand was her five year-old self in wool and silk, a little doll. Even the freckles and the streak of white were there. Its mouth smiled up at her, as if to say _I've missed you._ But it was the eyes which drew her in. Two large black button eyes that seemed to grow larger when she stared into them. "So _this_ is where you've been!"

"Huh?"

"I lost this when I was nine. Didn't even have it for very long…" Images flashed through her mind: a long tunnel, a starry sky, Elsa's laughing face. "Do you think she knows how it got here?"

Kristoff shrugged. "You could ask her. Not right now, I mean - Anna, come back!"

Anna was already out the door and walking towards the meeting hall. "I'm just gonna wait outside until she's done!" She unconsciously clutched the doll closer to her, and the button eyes flickered. Just behind her, the faint shadow of a claw-like hand trailed along the wall.

The prisoner on the throne watched it all and laughed bitterly. "So black moves first now." Its queen had never been one for others' rules, anyway.


	2. Disturbances

Elsa gripped the armrests of her chair as she felt the mahogany starting to frost over. For a moment, she found herself wishing for the safety of the gloves.

“Your Majesty?”

 

Conceal, don’t... no, there would be none of that anymore. “My apologies, Minister Engen. Continue with your report.”

 

The Minister of Trade tried to smile and cleared his throat. “As I was saying, my queen, the best course of action will be to ration wool until closer ties with England are established…”

 

His voice faded away again as Elsa’s eyes trailed up and down the table. It wasn’t the proceedings that troubled her - she’d been training herself to handle those for years. The eighteen pairs of judging eyes, on the other hand, were another matter.

 

“...in a month’s time. Is this suitable, Your Majesty?”

 

She blinked. “Yes, Minister Engen. See that it is done at once.” She stood up, pulling the cold back into her hands. “Will that be all for today, gentlemen?”

 

The temperature dropped a few degrees as she saw the Minister of Foreign Affairs pull a letter from his coat pocket. “One more matter. A response from the king of Spain to our invitation.”

 

Not this again. “What does he say?”

 

“He cannot attend the Yule festivities, Your Majesty. His younger son shall come in his place. I do believe he is about your age, madam.”

 

“Good for him. We shall reconvene at eleven next Thursday.” She could feel their stares on her back as she walked to the door. 

 

The legs of a chair scraped across the floor as the Prime Minister rose. “My queen,” he said, “at least consider him.”

 

Elsa paused, then turned to face the old man. “We agreed that we wouldn’t speak of this until I’d reigned a year.”

 

“Your people nearly lost the only bloodline they’ve ever known this summer. They must be reassured. An heir is needed.” He paused, biting his lip.

 

“And?”

 

“There is no precedent for a Queen of Arendelle ruling alone. One such as yourself ought to be restr..." He would have stopped himself at that moment, but his queen’s glare did it for him.   


 

“No precedent,” she said, lifting her chin. “Then I shall set one.”

 

The old man did not move, but his gaze flickered down to her folded hands as he tensed.

 

“That will be all for today?” she said to the rest of the cabinet, who wore similar expressions. “Good.” Opening the doors, she swept away and took the chill with her.

* * *

Why’s it so dark in here? Elsa thought as she trudged back towards her room. The hall windows were open, and the sunlight was streaming through, yet it seemed muted by more than just the clouds. Sighing, she rubbed her temples.  Must be the headache. She made a mental note to send for some tea and tell the servants not to disturb her -

 

“Elsa!”

 

She screamed as a blurry, red-haired mass slammed into her, grabbed her shoulders and twirled her around. “Anna, what are you doing?”

 

“Oh! Sorry sorry sorry!” Anna stammered, pulling away and dusting her sister off. “I just couldn’t wait! The meeting’s over, right? You got time for this?” She was holding something behind her back.

 

“Time for what?”

 

“Okay, you remember how I said we just had to move your stuff? You were taking so long in there and I was getting kind of bored and I just couldn’t get the boxes right and then Kristoff…” As she rambled, she brought the doll out and clutched it to her chest.

 

Elsa’s mind cracked as it saw the streak of white. When she looked into the button eyes, it shattered. “W-Where did you get that?” she demanded, growing pale.

 

“That’s what I’m telling you, Elsa. I thought I’d lost this old thing years ago! Isn’t it cute? I think we should...hey!”

 

Elsa had wrenched the doll from her grasp. “We’re putting it back where you found it.  Now.”

 

“Elsa, it’s just a doll.”

 

“No, it’s not!” She stopped, aware of the passing servants’ glances. “I...I can’t explain it just yet.”

 

“Is this another ice powers problem? You don’t have to keep this stuff secret anymore, you know.”

 

Elsa’s face softened. “I’m sorry…”

 

Good, the button eyes said.  Now leave me to my work.

 

Her own eyes blazing with hatred, Elsa squeezed the doll by the neck. “We still have to get rid of this.”

 

“Not until you tell me why!”

 

“This comes first,” she answered, starting to walk away.

 

Anna was right behind her, grabbing the doll’s arm. “Elsa, don’t do this - “

 

“Go away, Anna!”

 

The younger woman stopped. She blinked several times, shook her head, searched her sister’s face. When the words sank in, her eyes widened and her shoulders went limp. She shrank back, wrapping her arms around herself. “Um...okay.”

 

Elsa reached out to her with a shaking hand. “I didn’t mean it, I really didn’t - “

 

“No, no, I get it. You...space...need. We’ll just do the moving thing another time.”

 

“Anna…”

 

She looked down. “Bye.” Elsa stayed rooted as she watched her go, and the prisoner on the throne laughed at them both.  Oh, this is going to be easy.

* * *

“And I wasn’t even that mad, Olaf! I was…” Anna leaned back against the library sofa. “I was worried. Scratch the was, I still am.”

 

The snowman looked up from the rug pattern he was tracing with a wooden finger. “About what?”

 

“That...that she’s just gonna shut the door again.” For the last six months, such a thing had existed only in her nightmares.

 

Olaf gasped. “No more sleepovers?”

 

“Yeah, something like that.” She looked at the door. “What should I do?”

 

Olaf sat down beside her. “Maybe she’s just having a bad day. You just gotta give her a warm hug!” When Anna didn’t answer, he put his hand on hers. “Do you think she meant what she said?”

 

“No.”

 

“See? You’re gonna be fine! Now let’s go find her!”

 

“I need a few more minutes, Olaf.”

 

“Okay, I’ll go find her!” Before Anna could protest, Olaf was trotting out the door with a giggle. “Hey, Elsa? Mom? Anna has a surprise for you…!”

 

Anna found herself chuckling. Once he was gone, she moved to lay her head against the dormant fireplace, her braids splayed out on the stones. Maybe Elsa had just lost her temper. Or maybe she was wrong yet again.

 

That’s right. Just a little closer.

 

Anna sat up as her gaze drifted to the mantle.  No way...I would’ve noticed that before. Is it? Getting up, she ran her hands along the designs on the wood. Sure enough, one of the flowers was raised from the rest of the pattern.  That was  not here yesterday! Pulling on it didn’t do anything. What if she pushed…?

 

An abrupt rumbling came from the back of the fireplace. Anna knelt down just in time to see the back wall slide away. Beyond it, she thought she saw something glinting in the light. For a moment she could only gape, then she grinned.  Why haven’t I seen this before? Hoisting up her skirts, she crawled through the opening. As she crossed the threshold, the door slid back and left her in darkness.

 

“Hey! Let me out!” She banged on the bricks, but nothing happened. “Come on…” As her hands fumbled across the floor, her fingers brushed against something.  Wood...short...bulb...match! Finding the wall, she dragged it along the stones and flinched as it flared to life.

 

The secret room was no more than a little closet, and the only door seemed to be the one which had just turned on her. As Anna stood, the firelight fell on something propped against the wall. Something tall, covered by a white cloth. Stepping forward, she reached out and pulled off the dusty covering.

 

It was a mirror, as tall as she was, resting within a curving bronze frame. The metal bands snaked up and around to form a pair of claw-like hands at the top, grasping at something above them. Anna didn’t notice: she was staring into the glass, transfixed. There didn’t seem to be any damage to it - nothing that could have ruined the reflection. Then why did the girl staring back at her seem so wrong?

 

That was when it blinked when she didn’t, when its eyes became buttons. “Did you miss me?”

 

The shadowy hands came floating out, grasping at her braids. Anna screamed and whirled around, banging on the door, only to gasp as the claws wrapped around her. They clamped onto her throat, bound her arms and legs, pulled her down and dragged her back towards the mirror.  “Elsa!  ELSA!”

 

The glass rippled as they pulled her through it, cutting her screams short. Then it settled and smoothed, and she might as well have never been there at all.


	3. Down the Cat Hole

_Well?_ the doll asked. _Aren't you going to get rid of me?_

"No," Elsa muttered. "Not yet." Folding her arms, she froze the lock on her door without breaking her stern vigil. The button eyes glimmered, as though her adversary was laughing.

_Go on. Set me ablaze again. She'll just make another._

"I know." That was what the ancient books had said. Then again, they also said the Beldam only came for children. "I'll just burn that one too. And all the others."

_In front of your sister?_

So it knew what was holding her back. "I'll tell her everything," Elsa said, glaring. "She'll listen."

The buttons glimmered once more. _If you can manage it._

"Of course I can."

_And what makes you believe that?_

Elsa paused. "Because...because she knows I love her."

_Prove it, then._

"Els _aaaaa!"_ Olaf was jiggling the door handle. "Mom, I think something's wrong with your door!"

She melted the ice and opened the door. "What is it, Olaf?"

"Anna wants to talk to you!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's in the library! Come on!" he added, hurrying back down the hall.

Elsa looked back at the doll and smirked. "See?" Locking the door behind her, she rushed after Olaf with words of reconciliation already on the tip of her tongue.

The doll laughed and laughed and laughed.

* * *

"Anna, I'm sorry," Elsa said as she pulled open the library doors. "It's not your fault, you didn't deserve to…" She trailed off. "Anna?"

The room was silent and gray, as though something had snatched away the evening light. All the candles had gone out, and a healthy blaze was now crackling in the fireplace. Olaf stared at it, head cocked and brows furrowed.

"She didn't leave while you were gone, did she?" Elsa asked him.

"She said she was gonna wait right here!"

"Calm down, Olaf," she told him, choking down her own dark thoughts. "Why don't you go check her room?"

The snowman nodded and ran off. Once he had gone, Elsa knelt in front of the fireplace. _There couldn't have been anything lit while Olaf was here. Anna wouldn't dare._ Picking up the water pitcher, she put out the flames. Through the hissing smoke, a flash of light blue stood out from the gray of the ashes. A scrap of Anna's dress, caught between two bricks in the back wall. _Wait, the_ _ **back wall?**_

Her bare hands froze the embers as she crawled into the fireplace and pulled at the cloth. It budged an inch, and crumbs of mortar came with it. The semblance of a dark room could be seen through the cracks. Crawling back out, Elsa grabbed the poker and began to stab between the bricks. By the time she freed even one, her palms were sweating and her breath came in short gasps. Lighting a match, she stuck her hand through the hole and peered.

It was a tiny room, empty but for an ornate mirror. The wind seemed to faintly scream through the creaking boards. Elsa paused at the sound of it. As she listened, it rose and fell in a steady rhythm. _"Elsa...Elsa…!"_

She dropped the match and had to light another. This time, she turned it towards the mirror. The glass was covered in fog that seemed to emanate from its center. Almost as though someone was breathing on it -

Then a familiar hand slammed onto the surface from the inside. _"Elsa!"_ Anna pounded on the glass twice, and tiny cracks spread out from her touch. When her fist met it a third time, it shattered. The pieces tumbled to the floor, leaving only the mirror's wooden back. At the same, her shriek was choked and cut off.

Elsa screamed and jerked backwards, falling onto the rug. Every inch of her was trembling, and frost was covering the room. Stumbling to her feet, she ran from the library with the awful sight still flashing before her eyes. Not until she collided with a servant did she realize she had even moved. "Is something wrong, Your Majesty?" the girl asked.

"Lay out my riding clothes. Tell the stableboy I want my horse saddled and bridled at once."

"Queen Elsa, it's nearly nightfall."

"I know." She started to walk away, then turned back. "The doll in my room. Get rid of it."

"Shall I burn it, madam?"

"Take it apart first. _Thread by thread."_

* * *

Black clouds covered the night sky, but it would have been no brighter otherwise. The only light came from the glow of Elsa's ice as it left a trail behind her. Her brown horse galloped across the bridge, through the town and into the forest. The cloak of her red and black garb billowed out behind her. "Faster, faster," she kept whispering.

Thirteen years and she still remembered the trail like she'd ridden it yesterday.

The Valley of the Living Rock was silent when Elsa careened into it and dismounted. "You have to help me!" she shouted. "Please…"

The stones rumbled, then came rolling towards her in a single mass. Stopping at her feet, the trolls unfurled themselves in unison and stared at her with curious eyes. "It's the queen!"

"Anna's in trouble," she said, moving through the crowd to look for Grand Pabbie. "Something…something's taken her…"

"I know." Grand Pabbie was behind her, his face weary. "There is dark magic about. The Great Lights have vanished."

"Can't you stop it?" Elsa asked, kneeling before him.

The troll shook his head. "It has grown beyond my control. I fear it may be too late for your sister. Unless…"

"Unless _what?"_

"I sense that it fears your power. You must find a way to stop it, Elsa."

"Me…?"

"Hurry!" he commanded. "It becomes stronger by the moment…" He suddenly doubled over with a cry, and the other trolls did the same.

"W-What's going on?" Elsa said.

"Too...late...for us," Pabbie said through gritted teeth. _"Go…"_

With stilted, jerking movements, the trolls slowly curled up and turned back into rocks. "Hello?" Elsa asked after a few seconds of silence. "Sir?"

No answer.

* * *

Her hands were shaking even more now, and she could barely pull the reins. Clouds of snow whirled around her and the horse, blinding them both. Her worry was transforming the light snowfall into a blizzard.

A wolf howled in the distance. The horse stopped, its ears pricking up. Elsa stiffened with it. "No, no, no…!"

Whinnying, the horse bucked her off and went galloping away through the forest. "Whoa! Come back!" Elsa shouted, but her voice was already lost to the wind.

She looked around. Ice was weighing down the trees, the river had frozen and the snow was piling up in drifts. For the first time, she shivered.

"Mrrow."

In front of her, sitting on one of the snowdrifts, was a black cat. It stared at her with large blue eyes and disdain. _Tsk, tsk,_ it would probably say if it could talk. _Unacceptable._

She returned the look. "I suppose you wouldn't know where my sister is." _Great, now I'm talking to a cat._

It tipped its head, then turned and sauntered away. When Elsa remained where she was, it popped back into view and meowed at her again.

"Um...okay…" Standing up as best as she could, Elsa trudged after the creature. The snow was up to her knees now, and her dress was feeling heavier with each step. "Any idea where we're going?" she called out.

The cat paid her no mind. It wound its way around trees, through snowdrifts and bushes, farther away from the kingdom. The door must be here somewhere...a- _ha!_

Elsa watched as the cat hurried towards an especially large drift sitting against the base of a tree. Brushing at the snow, it uncovered a sizable rabbit hole and forced its way through. The wind was starting to pick up, so Elsa followed. "Hello? Anna…?"

It was a dark, dank cavern, yet larger than she had thought. All she could see were the cat's eyes, and those soon vanished. "Wait up!" she muttered, crawling after it. The little cave stretched into a narrow tunnel. Dirt soon covered her hands, gnarled roots in the ceiling pulled at her hair and the cat was nowhere to be found.

"I don't need your help!" Elsa finally snapped. "I'll find her myself." She started trying to turn herself around, inching a few more steps down the tunnel as she did so. "Won't be that hard getting home…"

The floor of the tunnel didn't so much dip as it dropped away entirely. When Elsa put a hand out behind her to steady herself, she felt only air. Confused, she whipped around, and then she was dropping with it.

The cavern opened up into a wide pit, and Elsa's screams echoed off the walls as she tumbled down. She spun as she fell, grasping at roots and colliding with rocks. Ragged hands seemed to leap from the shadows and stretch towards her. She found herself going hoarse from yelling. It could have been seconds, or maybe it was hours. All she could process was _down, down, down…_

...and then it stopped. Elsa's remaining breath was knocked from her, and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Her vision blurred and swirled, then it seeped away and left her in the dark.


	4. Strange Bedfellows

"You know, being dead is going to make this terribly complicated. I wouldn't recommend it."

Elsa let her eyes crack open, and she immediately regretted it. A fire was raging in her head, and every bone in her body felt as though it had been ground to dust. She tried moving a hand, but there was barely enough strength in her for that. "Hello…?"

"Ah, so you decided to live after all." A deep, lilting voice floated from the shadows close to her ear. "Very wise choice."

"Who _are_ you?"

"Over here."

Straining her neck, Elsa looked to her left. Next to her head sat the black cat from before, its tail swishing with impatience. It stared at her for another moment, then opened its mouth. "I would be on the move soon if I were you."

Elsa's eyes bugged out. "This has to be a dream…"

"Have fun trying to wake up from it, then," the cat replied. "You're in her kingdom now, and his playground. They told you your sister could be lost forever, but they aren't right yet. You must find her, Elsa. Before she finds him."

Elsa blinked. When she opened her eyes again, the cat had vanished. "...Anna." She needed to get to Anna.

Digging her fingers into the dirt, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Twigs and dead leaves rustled beneath her as she moved. Her hair had come undone, and something wet and runny was splattered on the strands. When she touched it and pulled her hand away to look, she saw dark spots of blood. Her face turned pale, and she gagged at the sight. Once she had managed to force the bile back down her throat, Elsa gradually became aware of the light source behind her. Natural light, pale and wispy. She struggled to her feet and turned around, squinting in the full force of the glow. It was coming through a large opening, and she'd been lying just past its threshold. Picking up what was left of her skirts, she carefully stepped over the rocks and out of the cave.

Funny. She didn't remember being in a cave. Then she thought back to what the cat had said: _you're in her kingdom now, and his playground._ What on earth had it meant by…"Oh."

Elsa had no idea what kingdom the landscape before her was part of, but it certainly wasn't Arendelle. Gone were the lush hills, the snow-capped mountains and the salty ocean. Instead there was a flat plain of dull yellow grass as far as the eye could see in all directions. A great gray rock broke the monotony here and there, but only occasionally. At the horizon, the grass melted into a muddy, cloudless sky. A sun, small and bright yellow, was beginning to peek into view.

Chills ran down Elsa's neck. There appeared to be no other living soul about, and yet she felt as though a pair of eyes were watching her every move. "Hello?" she called out, wrapping her arms around herself. "Is anyone here? Wherever here is?" No answer.

_Keep it together, Elsa._ Taking a breath, she focused on the sun. _That must be the east. Hopefully._ Either way, she supposed it was as good a place to start as any. "I'm coming, Anna."

_Such a shame she didn't go the other way,_ the prisoner on the throne thought as he watched her trudge along. _But then again, that wouldn't be nearly as fun._

* * *

"Say, pal, you don't look so good. You'd better find something to eat before night comes."

Anna's eyes flew open, and she bolted upright. "What did you do to me?" There was no one to answer, only a faint puff of smoke left behind by...something. She was probably better off not knowing what.

Scrambling to her feet, she looked about her feverishly. There was a hole in her memories, just after Olaf had left the library. Something about a secret door and a mirror, and now she was here. _Wherever here is._

She stood on a field of dark green grass, soft and damp to the touch. The sky above her was slowly being covered in black stormclouds, but she could see patches of dark brown between them. _Well, that's not weird at all._ To her left was a plain of tall yellow grass, and to her right was a forest of pine trees. Pine trees and the faint sound of someone chopping away at them. Sure enough, one of them wobbled and tumbled over as she watched. "Another one! We'll win this yet, eh, Lucy?"

"Hey!" Anna shouted, making a beeline for the felled tree. "Can you help me? I think I'm lost!"

The closer she got, the slower she began to walk. She couldn't place her finger on just what it was, but something wasn't right about these trees. Their roots stretched out like gnarled feet, and the twisted creases on their bark looked almost like sleeping faces. _If trees had faces. Which they don't._

A glint of light in the corner of her eye got her attention, and she turned. A lone figure stood beside the fallen tree, its back to her. "Its" because she wasn't quite sure what it was. It was _shaped_ like a human, yes, but Anna was pretty sure that most humans weren't covered completely in copper and had screws sticking out of its head. She began to back away, but stepped on a twig and snapped it.

The figure whirled around, staring right at her with a pair of empty eye sockets. "LIFE DETECTED."

Anna sputtered out a nervous laugh and silently cursed her suddenly useless legs. "Yeah, that's me…"

"IDENTIFIED: HUMANOID FLESHLING." The automaton marched towards her, its arms reaching for her neck. "EXTERMINATE."

"H-Hey, can't we talk about this?"

"EMPATHY MODULE NOT RESPONDING." With a burst of speed, it clamped its hands around Anna's throat and began to squeeze.

Frightened tears formed in Anna's eyes as she gasped for breath scrambled to pry off the creature's fingers. She kicked at its legs, but it simply lifted her off the ground. Neither of them noticed the drops of rain splashing down from the storm clouds until it was too late.

The automaton abruptly stiffened as the rain began to pour. Its head rattled and sparked, then slumped forward. Anna wriggled out of its loosening grasp and dropped to the ground, holding her bruised neck. Her knees were too weak for her to stand, and she tried to crawl away from the monster but collapsed on her stomach. As she lay in the dirt trembling, she heard the tree near her start to crack. It was tipping over, headed straight for her, and she was in too much shock to move. Only her eyes seemed willing to function, and all they could do was stare up in horror at what was coming -

"Look out!"

A pair of hands grabbed Anna's arms and roughly dragged her out of the tree's path. It crashed a few feet from her head, barely missing one of her braids. Through her blurry vision, she could make out a dark-haired figure stomping off in the direction the tree had fallen from. "Stupid! Didn't you see that girl, Woodie?"

Anna sat up and rubbed her eyes. In front of the stump stood a girl about her age, dressed in red and black and wearing her hair in curling pigtails. She was staring daggers at a bearded, red-haired man in plaid, and he was doing the same at her. "This is exactly what I was talking about. Fire doesn't crush."

The man she called Woodie pulled a fire axe out of the stump. "Can it bring down thirty trees in ten minutes, Miss Willow?"

Willow pointed behind her. "Forty."

Sniffing the air, Anna caught the scent of burning charcoal blowing in from the west. She stood up and looked, then nearly fell down again when she saw what was happening. A large clump of trees sprawled across the plain, and each of them was burning from leaves to roots. The rain was doing little to put the blazes out, and the thick smoke was rising into the sky.

Willow put her hands on her hips and smiled as she observed her handiwork. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Uh…"

The sound of crackling wood was abruptly joined by a shriek, and a little old woman came darting out of the forest. In her hands was a slightly smoldering book, which she beat on the grass until she had killed the embers. Looking up, she saw Willow and scowled. "Alright," she snapped as she marched up to the girl, "hand it over."

Willow blanched, a notable feat. "But I need it for tonight!"

"Then you'll have it back tonight. You too, Woodrow."

Woodie hid the axe behind his back. "You don't want to upset Lucy, eh?"

"I don't think you need any help with that."

A person with a level head on their shoulders? Could Anna possibly be that lucky? Well, only one way to find out. "Excuse me!" she called out, stumbling forward. "Can you help me?"

The old woman started, noticing her for the first time. "Who's this?"

"My name's Anna," she answered hesitantly. "Where am I? Who are you people? What's going on?"

Woodie raised his eyebrows. "A newcomer, eh? Poor girl."

The old woman leaned in closer, examining Anna's neck. "You're bruised."

"T-There was this thing...I don't know what it was. It wanted to kill me."

"His empathy module broke again."

"That's what he...wait, what? How did you know about that?"

"I built WX-78 myself. For more benign purposes, of course," she added, noting Anna's look of suspicion. "Library assistant. You'll have to excuse him, he has no idea what he does. And neither do my other companions, it seems."

"I saved her life, Wickerbottom!" Willow said.

"It only needed saving because of your little contest, child. What have I told you about using that horrid contraption of yours? The world will end in fire and tribulation…!"

Anna began to back away. "Yeah, well, I guess it was nice meeting you guys - "

"You can't leave," Wickerbottom told her. "You won't last a day on your own."

"We haven't got enough food for another," Woodie remarked.

"She'll earn her keep once she's settled in. Won't you?"

"Look, I'm just trying to find my sister," Anna said. "You haven't seen her, have you? Tall, blonde, regal, probably shooting ice out her hands?"

The three of them stared at her with looks that spoke of concern on a number of levels. "I would've remembered that," Willow said eventually.

"At least stay with us a while, dear," Wickerbottom said. "Until you're well enough to care for yourself."

"You won't be much use to that sister of yours if you're dead," Willow added happily.

Anna looked at their faces, then out at the emptiness surrounding her. "Do you stay around here?"

"We're traveling south. We need to make it as far as we can before winter comes."

If they would be on the move, then that was all she needed to know. "What are we waiting for?"

* * *

Three miles to the east, the prisoner's other plaything was not having nearly as much luck. "Anna?" Elsa shouted at the horizon, trying in vain not to drag her skirts through the mud. There had been a path, but she had lost it some ways back. She flinched at each cold raindrop on her face and kept her head down. "Anna, are you there?"

"...away…"

Elsa looked up. In the distance was a solitary oak tree, and in its branches, she could just make out a waving figure. The weight on her heart briefly lessened, and she began to run. "Anna?"

"Stay away…"

That wasn't Anna. Elsa's pace slowed as she neared the tree. "Who are you?"

Sitting in the branches was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than eight, but her face seemed much older. It was darkened by shadows and dour, not unlike what her own reflection had once been. The girl wore a faded white dress, and her yellow hair was braided in pigtails and adorned with a drooping red blossom. "Stay away," she repeated. Her voice was soft and airy.

"Why not?" Elsa asked.

The girl pointed down. "Him," she replied in a whisper. "He's waiting for me."

The him she needed to stop Anna from finding, perhaps. "Who are you talking about?" Elsa said as she approached the base of the tree. "I can't see anyone - "

_THWACK!_ She had stepped on something small and wooden, and suddenly two halves of a large mesh sphere popped out of the grass and clamped around her. "What the…?"

A feverish cackle filled the air, and a figure jumped out from behind the tree. "There you are!" he shouted at Elsa, his accent thick and English. "I'm going to stomp you dead this time!"

Elsa supposed he was a man, or at least had been one. His dark hair was matted and sticking out in all directions, his tangled beard reached almost down to the ground and his eyes were wild and bloodshot. He carried a makeshift spear in his hands, and he jabbed it through the holes in the trap. "Get me out of here, devil!"

He kicked at the trap. It rolled over, then fell apart. Jumping out, Elsa raised her hands to shield herself from her attacker. A bolt of ice flew from her palms and struck the spear, shattering it. The man instantly recoiled and cowered beneath the tree, staring at her agape.

"I don't want any trouble," Elsa said, not breaking her defensive pose. "I just want to find my sister."

The man crept closer to her, hunched over like an animal and squinting his eyes. "You...you're not him."

"Who's him?"

Considering the way her day was going, it was perfectly natural for the sky to choose that moment to send down a bolt of lightning. Elsa screamed as it struck the man in the head, illuminating his skeleton. He slumped to the ground, a charred mess.

The girl dropped down from her perch, ran his body and placed an ear to his chest. "Is he dead?" Elsa asked, uncovering her mouth.

"He's still breathing," the girl replied after a moment. "How sad he would be to know." She paused, then rolled him over onto his back. "He's got a pack. See?" Pulling it off, she began to rummage through the little brown bag.

Elsa sat down next to her. "You just said he was still alive."

The girl didn't seem to care. "Is this food?" she wondered to herself as she held up a white rod. It was, upon closer inspection, a bone of some sort. Not too old, as there was still a bulb of flesh at one end. "Perhaps we can find where it came from."

Elsa took the bone in her hand, running her hand along the strange creases in the skin. "Strange. Looks a lot like an eyelid."

That, of course, was when it opened and stared at her. It frosted over in her hand, and she flung it across the field half a second later. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

"Wait a second!" the girl said. She went running after the bone. "I think there's something coming."

"Then why are you going _towards_ it?"

Sure enough, something was bouncing across the plain in their direction. It was a small, furry orange blob: four stumpy legs, two curved horns, a pink tongue lolling out of his mouth, a set of stubby teeth. It stopped next to the bone and hovered around it as though guarding it. When the girl touched the bone, however, it made no attempt to stop her. It only yawned, and its jaw opened to an absurd angle. Its mouth seemed to take up most of its body. Inside lay tools, berries and a stack of papers.

"Get away from that thing!" Elsa hissed at the girl. "You don't know what it can do."

"I believe it's his companion," she answered.

"Oh, and I suppose that makes it better."

The girl walked back to the tree, eye bone in hand, and the creature bounced after her. "Do you know who this is?" she asked it, holding the eye so that it was looking at the man.

The creature yipped and hurried to its master's side, nudging the side of its head. It yipped at the girls, taking on a more concerned tone, then began to bounce away. It got a few feet, then turned back and yipped a third time. "What does it want?" Elsa asked.

"It wants us to take him and follow it," the girl said. "We're coming!"

"I don't know about this."

"I shall go by myself, then." Picking up one of the man's hands in both of hers, the girl started to drag him along.

"But you just can't...you'll both…" _If I'm there when he wakes up, maybe I can finally get some answers._ "...Wait for me!"

* * *


End file.
